System and method for transferring images to multiple programmable smart thermostats

ABSTRACT

A system includes a plurality of programmable intelligent thermostats positioned within at least one of a first home environment and a second home environment, a plurality of communication devices configured to operate an electronic media sharing application, and at least one server configured to communicate with the plurality of programmable intelligent thermostats and the plurality of communication devices via a wireless network. A user initiates the electronic media sharing application on at least one of the plurality of communication devices. A touch-screen display of the at least one communication device demonstrates the plurality of programmable intelligent thermostats positioned within the first and second home environments and at least one user-selected electronic media is simultaneously uploaded to at least one of the plurality of programmable intelligent thermostats responsive to a user selection of a region on the touch-screen display.

BACKGROUND Technical Field

The present invention relates generally to devices configured toregulate operation of one or more of mechanical, electrical, andelectronic systems in relation to temperature and, more particularly,but not by way of limitation, to a method of and system for controllingoperation of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) andrefrigeration systems and uploading electronic media for viewing on adisplay of a programmable intelligent thermostat.

History of Related Art

A thermostat is generally considered to be a device that regulatesoperation of mechanical, electrical, or electronic systems in relationto temperature. Thermostats are particularly prevalent inheating/cooling systems to deliver a set temperature result. Atraditional thermostat display typically demonstrates currenttemperature settings, desired temperature settings, current time, andthe like. However, traditional thermostats do not demonstrate additionalinformation that users may be interested in. For example, users may haveto look or step outside to get an indication of outside weatherconditions. In addition, traditional thermostats lack an easy-to-use andintuitive user interface.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A system includes a plurality of programmable intelligent thermostatspositioned within at least one of a first home environment and a secondhome environment, a plurality of communication devices configured tooperate an electronic media sharing application, and at least one serverconfigured to communicate with the plurality of programmable intelligentthermostats and the plurality of communication devices via a wirelessnetwork. A user initiates the electronic media sharing application on atleast one of the plurality of communication devices. A touch-screendisplay of the at least one communication device demonstrates theplurality of programmable intelligent thermostats positioned within thefirst and second home environments and at least one user-selectedelectronic media is simultaneously uploaded to at least one of theplurality of programmable intelligent thermostats responsive to a userselection of a region on the touch-screen display.

A method includes positioning a plurality of programmable intelligentthermostats within a first home environment and a second homeenvironment, operating an electronic media sharing application on atleast one of a plurality of communication devices, and initiating by auser, the electronic media sharing application on at least one of theplurality of communication devices. The method further includesdemonstrating, on a touch-screen display of the at least one of theplurality of communication devices, the plurality of programmableintelligent thermostats positioned within the first and second homeenvironments and simultaneously uploading at least one user-selectedelectronic media to at least one of the plurality of programmableintelligent thermostats responsive to a user selection of a region onthe touch-screen display.

A system includes a plurality of programmable intelligent thermostatspositioned within at least one of a first home environment and a secondhome environment, a plurality of communication devices configured tooperate an electronic media sharing application, and at least one serverconfigured to communicate with the plurality of programmable intelligentthermostats and the plurality of communication devices via a wirelessnetwork. A user initiates the electronic media sharing application on atleast one of the plurality of communication devices. A touch-screendisplay of the at least one communication device demonstrates theplurality of programmable intelligent thermostats positioned within thefirst and second home environments and at least one electronic imagetagged by the user on social media websites is simultaneously uploadedto at least one of the plurality of programmable intelligent thermostatsresponsive to a user selection of a region on the touch-screen display.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating a smart home environment system;

FIG. 2A illustrates an exemplary programmable intelligent thermostat:

FIG. 2B is a schematic view illustrating processing circuitry of theprogrammable intelligent thermostat;

FIGS. 3A-3D illustrate screen shots of an exemplary process forsimultaneously uploading electronic images to multiple programmableintelligent thermostats;

FIG. 4A illustrates a screenshot of a graphical user interface (GUI) forsimultaneously uploading electronic images to multiple programmableintelligent thermostats positioned within multiple home environments;

FIG. 4B illustrates a screenshot of a GUI for simultaneously uploadingelectronic images to multiple programmable intelligent thermostatspositioned within a single home environment;

FIG. 4C illustrates a screenshot of a GUI for uploading electronicimages to a single programmable intelligent thermostat positioned withina home environment; and

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a process for uploading electronicimages to at least one programmable intelligent thermostat.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Embodiment(s) of the invention will now be described more fully withreference to the accompanying Drawings. The invention may, however, beembodied in many different forms and should not be construed as limitedto the embodiment(s) set forth herein. The invention should only beconsidered limited by the claims as they now exist and the equivalentsthereof.

FIG. 1 is a schematic view illustrating a smart home environment system100. The smart home environment system 100 includes a plurality ofprogrammable intelligent thermostats 102, 103, 107, a plurality ofnetworking devices 104(a), 104(b), a plurality of communication devices108, 110, 112, and at least one server or cloud-computing system 114.For illustrative purposes, the plurality of programmable intelligentthermostats 102, 103 are positioned within a first home environment 101and the programmable intelligent thermostat 107 is positioned within asecond home environment 105; however, in other embodiments, the numberand placement of the plurality of programmable intelligent thermostats102, 103, 107 can vary as needed. The plurality of networking devices104(a), 104(b), the plurality of communication devices 108, 110, 112,and the at least one server or cloud-computing system 114 are eachcommunicably coupled to a network 106. Each of the plurality ofcommunication devices 108, 110, 112 includes a display 109, 111, 113. Insome embodiments, the display 109, 111, 113 may be, for example, acustomizable color touch-screen display and may be configured to displayrespective representations of the keyboard (e.g., a virtual keyboard).The network 106 can include any number of wired and/or wirelesscommunications networks such as, for example, public or privateintranets, a wide area network (e.g., the Internet), cellular networks,satellite communication, and the like. In refrigeration systemenvironments (not illustrated), the plurality of programmableintelligent thermostats 102, 103 may be positioned within a first siteand the programmable intelligent thermostat 107 may be positioned withina second site.

In a typical embodiment, the plurality of networking devices 104(a),104(b) serve as networking equipment that, for example, routes/forwardstraffic between two or more networks or sub-networks and/or providesaccess to a network. For example, the plurality of networking devices104(a). 104(b) allow the plurality of programmable intelligentthermostats 102, 103, 107 to communicate with the at least one server orcloud-computing system 114 via the network 106. In a typical embodiment,the plurality of networking devices 104(a), 104(b) can include, forexample, routers, switches, bridges, hubs, wireless access points,gateways, a combination of same, and/or the like. In a typicalembodiment, the plurality of networking devices 104(a). 104(b) arefurther configured to communicate with home communication equipment suchas, for example, home routers, wireless hubs, access points, and thelike. In a typical embodiment, the at least one server orcloud-computing system 114 may be associated with a manufacturer, asupport entity, a service provider, and the like. The at least oneserver or cloud-computing system 114 is configured to communicate withother entities such as, for example, maintenance contractors 116,weather forecasting agencies 118, and the like.

The smart home environment system 100 allows users to contact customersupport using, for example, the programmable intelligent thermostats102, 103, 107. Additionally, the smart home environment system 100allows software updates to be routinely sent from the at least oneserver or cloud-computing system 114 to at least one of the plurality ofprogrammable intelligent thermostats 102, 103, 107 and other HVAC systemcomponents such as, for example, outdoor-unit control board, furnacecontrol board, and the like. Furthermore, the smart home environmentsystem 100 allows maintenance contractors 116 to periodically send HVACsystem maintenance reminders, HVAC system service special, and othernotifications to the programmable intelligent thermostats 102, 103, 107via the at least one server or cloud-computing system 114. In addition,via the smart home environment system 100, the at least one server orcloud-computing system 114 forwards current and predicted weatherinformation to the programmable intelligent thermostats 102, 103, 107.

In a typical embodiment, the plurality of communication devices 108,110, 112 operated by users are configured to control the programmableintelligent thermostat 102 remotely. A webpage or mobile application maybe configured to receive information from the user operated plurality ofcommunication devices 108, 110, 112 and control settings of, forexample, the programmable intelligent thermostat 102. For example, theuser can view temperature settings of the programmable intelligentthermostat 102 and modify the settings using the plurality ofcommunication devices 108, 110, 112. In some embodiments, the pluralityof communication devices 108, 110, 112 operated by users are configuredto simultaneously upload electronic media to at least one of theplurality of programmable intelligent thermostats 102, 103, 107. In atypical embodiment, the plurality of communication devices 108, 110, 112may be, for example, a personal computer (e.g., desktop or laptop),tablet computer, mobile device (e.g., personal digital assistant (PDA)or smart phone), and the like. In some embodiments, the plurality ofcommunication devices 108, 110, 112 may function as an image repositorywhere electronic media is stored. The at least one server orcloud-computing system 114 can be programmed to collect electronic mediafrom the plurality of communication devices 108, 110, 112 and upload theelectronic media to the plurality of programmable intelligentthermostats 102, 103, 107. In other embodiments, the image repositorycan be a network accessible image repository. The network accessibleimage repository may be a social media website such as, for example.Facebook®, Instagram®. Whatsapp®, and the like.

For purpose of this patent application, electronic media refers to atextual, graphical, audio, and/or a video file. An example of theelectronic media is an electronic image or a video file. In someembodiments, the electronic media comprises static images. In otherembodiments, the electronic media comprises dynamic images such as, forexample, animated GIF. Flash animation, and the like.

FIG. 2A illustrates an exemplary programmable intelligent thermostat102. The programmable intelligent thermostat 102 includes a fronthousing 204 and a rear housing 206. The rear housing 206 is removablyattached to a wall via fasteners (not illustrated), such as, forexample, screws, nuts, snaps, pins, and the like. The front housing 204includes a display 208, processing circuitry 209, and at least onesensor 210 embedded therein. In a typical embodiment, the at least onesensor 210 may be, for example, a temperature sensor. In one embodiment,a video camera is incorporated in the programmable intelligentthermostat 102 to perform operations such as, for example, room lightingdetermination, distance determination, facial detection, voicerecognition, occupancy detection, and the like.

In a typical embodiment, the display 208 may be any type of visualinput/output configured to display one or more characters and/or receiveinput corresponding to one or more characters. In addition, the display208 may be configured to display, for example, diagrams, images, words,characters, animations, and the like. The display 208 may further beconfigured to receive input corresponding to one or more diagrams,images, words, characters, and the like. In some embodiments, thedisplay 208 may be, for example, a customizable color touch-screendisplay and may be configured to display respective representations ofthe keyboard (e.g., a virtual keyboard). In some embodiments, thedisplay 208 may function as, for example, a user interface for receivinguser inputs. For exemplary illustration, the programmable intelligentthermostat 102 as illustrated in FIG. 2A is rectangular in shape;however, in other embodiments, the programmable intelligent thermostat102 may be of various shapes and sizes as needed.

FIG. 2B is a schematic view illustrating the processing circuitry 209.For illustrative purposes, the processing circuitry 209 will bedescribed relative to FIGS. 1-2A. The processing circuitry 209 includesa processor 240 connected to a bus 242. The bus 242 serves as aconnection channel between the processor 240 and various components ofthe programmable intelligent thermostat 102. The bus 242 may include anycombination of hardware, software embedded in a computer readablemedium, and/or encoded logic incorporated in hardware or otherwisestored (e.g., firmware) to couple components of the processing circuitry209 to each other. As an example and not by way of limitation, the bus242 may include an Accelerated Graphics Port (AGP) or other graphicsbus, an Enhanced Industry Standard Architecture (EISA) bus, a front-sidebus (FSB), a HYPERTRANSPORT (HT) interconnect, an Industry StandardArchitecture (ISA) bus, an INFINIBAND interconnect, a low-pin-count(LPC) bus, a memory bus, a Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, aPeripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus, a PCI-Express (PCI-X) bus,a serial advanced technology attachment (SATA) bus, a Video ElectronicsStandards Association local (VLB) bus, or any other suitable bus or acombination of two or more of these. The bus 242 may include any number,type, and/or configuration of buses 242, where appropriate. Inparticular embodiments, one or more buses 242 (which may each include anaddress bus and a data bus) may couple the processor 240 to othercomponents of the processing circuitry 209.

User input/output devices 244 are coupled to the processor 240. Examplesof input/output devices 244 may include, for example, touchscreens,pointing trackballs, trackpads, and a variety of other input/outputdevices. Programs and data are stored on a mass storage device 246coupled to the processor 240.

As an example and not by way of limitation, the mass storage device 246may include a hard disk drive (HDD), a floppy disk drive, flash memory,an optical disc, a magneto-optical disc, magnetic tape, or a UniversalSerial Bus (USB) drive or a combination of two or more of these. Themass storage device 246 may include removable or non-removable (orfixed) media, where appropriate. The mass storage device 246 may beinternal or external to the programmable intelligent thermostat 102,where appropriate. In particular embodiments, the mass storage device246 may be non-volatile, solid-state memory. In particular embodiments,the mass storage device 246 may include read-only memory (ROM). Whereappropriate, this ROM may be mask-programmed ROM, programmable ROM(PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), electrically erasable PROM (EEPROM),electrically alterable ROM (EAROM), or flash memory or a combination oftwo or more of these. The mass storage device 246 may take any suitablephysical form and may comprise any suitable number or type of storage.The mass storage device 246 may include one or more storage controlunits facilitating communication between the processor 240 and the massstorage device 246, where appropriate.

The display 208 is coupled to the processor 240 by a controller 248. Asystem memory 250 is coupled to the processor 240 to provide theprocessor 240 with fast storage to facilitate execution by the processor240. The system memory 250 may be any form of volatile or non-volatilememory including, without limitation, magnetic media, optical media,random access memory (RAM), read-only memory (ROM), flash memory,removable media, or any other suitable local or remote memory componentor components. In particular embodiments, the system memory 250 mayinclude random access memory (RAM). This RAM may be volatile memory,where appropriate. Where appropriate, this RAM may be dynamic RAM (DRAM)or static RAM (SRAM). Moreover, where appropriate, this RAM may besingle-ported or multi-ported RAM, or any other suitable type of RAM ormemory. The system memory 250 may store any suitable data orinformation, including software embedded in a computer readable medium,and/or encoded logic incorporated in hardware or otherwise stored (e.g.,firmware). In particular embodiments, the system memory 250 may includemain memory for storing instructions for the processor 240 to execute ordata for the processor 240 to operate on.

The at least one sensor 210 is coupled to the processor 240 and providesinformation to the processor 240. The information may include datarelative to, for example, room lighting determination, distancedetermination, facial detection, voice recognition, occupancy detection,and the like. The processing circuitry 209 also includes acommunications interface 254. In a typical embodiment, thecommunications interface 254 may include hardware, encoded software, orboth providing one or more interfaces for communication (such as, forexample, packet-based communication) among any networks, any networkdevices, and/or any other computer systems. As an example and not by wayof limitation, the communications interface 254 may include anetwork-interface controller (NIC) or network adapter for communicatingwith an Ethernet or other wire-based network and/or a wireless NIC(WNIC) or wireless adapter for communicating with a wireless network.

Depending on the embodiment, the communications interface 254 may be anytype of interface suitable for any type of network for which theprogrammable intelligent thermostat 102 is used. As an example and notby way of limitation, the programmable intelligent thermostat 102 caninclude (or communicate with) an ad-hoc network, a personal area network(PAN), a local area network (LAN), a wide area network (WAN), ametropolitan area network (MAN), or one or more portions of the Internetor a combination of two or more of these. One or more portions of one ormore of these networks may be wired or wireless. As an example, theprogrammable intelligent thermostat 102 can include (or communicatewith) a wireless PAN (WPAN) (such as, for example, a BLUETOOTH WPAN), aWI-FI network, a WI-MAX network, an LTE network, an LTE-A network, acellular telephone network (such as, for example, a Global System forMobile Communications (GSM) network), or any other suitable wirelessnetwork or a combination of two or more of these. By way of furtherexample, the communications interface 254 can utilize communication viavarious other types of wireless communication such as infrared (IR)communication, radio frequency (RF) communication, communication viadirect electrical connections, etc. In general, the processing circuitry209 may include any suitable communications interface 254 for any one ormore of these networks, where appropriate.

In a typical embodiment, the processor 240 may be a microprocessor,controller, or any other suitable computing device, resource, orcombination of hardware, software and/or encoded logic operable toexecute, either alone or in conjunction with other components, (e.g.,the system memory 250). Such functionality may include providing variousfeatures discussed herein. In particular embodiments, the processor 240may include hardware for executing instructions. As an example and notby way of limitation, to execute instructions, the processor 240 mayretrieve (or fetch) instructions from an internal register, an internalcache, the system memory 250, or the mass storage device 246; decode andexecute them; and then write one or more results to an internalregister, an internal cache, the system memory 250, or the mass storagedevice 246.

Thermostat displays have the capability of displaying electronic imagesas a screen saver when no user activity is sensed for a certain periodof time. Traditionally, in a home having a plurality of thermostats, auser is required to individually perform steps to upload electronicimages to each one of the plurality of thermostats making the processcumbersome. However, traditional method and systems do not have thecapability of simultaneously uploading electronic images to multiplethermostats. In a typical embodiment, the exemplary method and system iscapable of simultaneously uploading electronic images to multiplethermostats such as, for example, the plurality of programmableintelligent thermostats 102, 103, and 107. In a typical embodiment, theexemplary methods and system can be facilitated utilizing mobileapplications that can be installed on the plurality of communicationdevices 108, 110, 112. A mobile application includes a graphical userinterface (GUI) on a display 109, 111, 113 of the plurality ofcommunication devices 108, 110, 112. The mobile application can beprogrammed to perform various functions such as, for example,controlling operation of at least one of the plurality of programmableintelligent thermostats 102, 103, 107, uploading electronic images to atleast one of the plurality of programmable intelligent thermostats 102,103, 107, and the like.

In a typical embodiment, the electronic images that are uploaded fromthe at least one server or cloud-computing system 114 may be displayedon the display 208 as a background image (i.e. wallpaper image), animage on only part of the display 208, as a sequence of slide showimages, a screensaver image, a scrolling text line image, and/or anyother suitable image as desired. The electronic images may include stillimages, video images, text images, computer generated images, flashplayer images, or any other suitable image or image sequence, asdesired. The electronic images may be in a JPEG, GIF, BMP, TIFF, PNG,WMF, PCX, MPEG, SWF (Adobe Flash), SCR (Windows™ Screen Saver Format),or any other suitable format. The display 208 is configured toautomatically convert the electronic images to screen resolution andappropriate display format.

FIGS. 3A-3D illustrate screen shots of a process for simultaneouslyuploading electronic images to multiple programmable intelligentthermostats from a user account. For illustrative purposes, the processwill be described relative to FIGS. 1-2B. A user is initially requiredto set up an account and register the plurality of programmableintelligent thermostats 102, 103, 107 and their locations with the atleast one server or cloud-computing system 114 that is associated withthe manufacturer. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the first homeenvironment 101 comprises the plurality of programmable intelligentthermostats 102, 103 and the second home environment 105 comprises theprogrammable intelligent thermostat 107. The first and second homeenvironments 101, 105 and the plurality of programmable intelligentthermostats 102, 103, 107 are registered with the at least one server orcloud-computing system 114 and their operation controlled by the userusing, for example, the mobile application.

When a user opens the exemplary mobile application on at least one ofthe plurality of communication devices 108, 110, 112, the user is shownvarious options for uploading electronic images as shown in FIG. 3A. Inone embodiment, the user can upload electronic images using amedia-upload option provided by the HVAC system manufacturer. In otherembodiments, a plurality of social media links such as, for example.Facebook®, Instagram®, Whatsapp®, and the like are provided that can beselected for uploading electronic images. The social media links enablethe user to retrieve electronic images from the user's social mediaaccounts. In yet another embodiment, a link to electronic mail (E-mail)is provided that can be selected to upload electronic images. Uponchoosing a desired option, the user is required to performauthentication steps to confirm their identity. In the embodimentillustrated in FIG. 3B, the user is required to sign in by entering anE-mail address and a password. In alternate embodiments, userauthentication can be performed by entering a user name and password, avoice print, a thumb print or other biometrics. In the illustratedembodiment, the user selects the media-upload option provided by theHVAC system manufacturer. Next, in an embodiment illustrated in FIG. 3C,the user is provided a menu showing multiple registered homes, theplurality of registered programmable intelligent thermostats and thelocation of each of the plurality of registered programmable intelligentthermostats within the multiple registered homes. In another embodimentillustrated in FIG. 3D, the user is provided a menu showing a singleregistered home, the plurality of registered programmable intelligentthermostats and the location of each of the plurality of registeredprogrammable intelligent thermostats within the single registered home.

FIG. 4A illustrates a screenshot of a GUI 400 for simultaneouslyuploading electronic images to multiple programmable intelligentthermostats positioned within multiple home environments. Forillustrative purposes, the processing circuitry 209 will be describedrelative to FIGS. 1-2A. The GUI 400 displays previously registered homeenvironments associated with the user account and the plurality ofprogrammable intelligent thermostats within the previously registeredhome environments. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4A, a pluralityof programmable intelligent thermostats 406, 408 are positioned within afirst home environment 402 and a plurality of programmable intelligentthermostats 410 and 412 are positioned within a second home environment404. When a user swipes or taps on a region 414 outside of the first andsecond home environments 402, 404, the entire region 414 is highlightedto indicate that the electronic images will be simultaneouslytransmitted to all of the plurality of programmable intelligentthermostats 406, 408, 410, 412 using a single swipe or tap.

FIG. 4B illustrates a screenshot of a GUI 400 for simultaneouslyuploading electronic images to multiple programmable intelligentthermostats positioned within a single home environment. Forillustrative purposes, the processing circuitry 209 will be describedrelative to FIGS. 1-2A. The GUI 400 displays previously registered homeenvironments and the plurality of programmable intelligent thermostatswithin the previously registered home environments. In the embodimentillustrated in FIG. 4B, a plurality of programmable intelligentthermostats 406, 408 are positioned within a first home environment 402and a plurality of programmable intelligent thermostats 410 and 412 arepositioned within a second home environment 404. When a user swipes ortaps on a region 416 inside of the first home environment 402 andoutside of the plurality of programmable intelligent thermostats 406,408, the entire first home environment 402 is highlighted to indicatethat the electronic images will be simultaneously transmitted to all ofthe plurality of programmable intelligent thermostats 406, 408 withinthe first home environment 402 using a single swipe or tap.

FIG. 4C illustrates a screenshot of a GUI 400 for uploading electronicimages to a single programmable intelligent thermostat positioned withina home environment. For illustrative purposes, the processing circuitry209 will be described relative to FIGS. 1-2A. The GUI 400 displayspreviously registered home environments and the plurality ofprogrammable intelligent thermostats within the previously registeredhome environments. In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 4C, a pluralityof programmable intelligent thermostats 406, 408 are positioned within afirst home environment 402 and a plurality of programmable intelligentthermostats 410 and 412 are positioned within a second home environment404. When a user swipes or taps on a programmable intelligentthermostat, only the selected programmable intelligent thermostat 412 ishighlighted to indicate that the electronic images will only betransmitted only to the selected programmable intelligent thermostat 412using a single swipe or tap.

In some embodiments, the electronic images to be uploaded to at leastone of the plurality of programmable intelligent thermostats 406, 408,410, 412 are user selected. The user selected electronic images may beuploaded to the controller 248 from the at least one server orcloud-computing system 114, and the controller 248 may display theelectronic images on the display 208. In other embodiments, the at leastone server or cloud-computing system 114 is configured to uploadelectronic images from the user's social media accounts such as, forexample, Facebook®. Instagram®, Whatsapp®, and the like. In particular,electronic images that have been tagged by the user to be uploaded to atleast one of the plurality of programmable intelligent thermostats 406,408, 410, 412 are uploaded to the controller 248 by the at least oneserver or cloud-computing system 114. In other embodiments, the usersends the electronic images via electronic mail (E-mail) withinstructions to upload the electronic images to at least one of theplurality of programmable intelligent thermostats 406, 408, 410, 412. Inother embodiments, the plurality of programmable intelligent thermostats406, 408, 410, 412 include a universal serial bus interface (USB) foruploading the electronic images.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart illustrating a process 500 for uploadingelectronic images to at least one programmable intelligent thermostat.For illustrative purposes, the process 500 will be described relative toFIGS. 1-4C. The process 500 starts at step 502. At step 504, a useropens the exemplary mobile application on at least one of the pluralityof communication devices 108, 110, 112 and is shown various options foruploading electronic images. In one embodiment, the user can uploadelectronic images using a media-upload option provided by the HVACsystem manufacturer. In other embodiments, a plurality of social medialinks such as, for example, Facebook®, Instagram®, Whatsapp®, and thelike can be utilized for uploading electronic images. In yet anotherembodiment, a link to electronic mail (E-mail) is provided that can beselected to upload electronic images. At step 506, the user is requiredto sign in by entering an E-mail address and a password. At step 508,the user is provided a menu showing multiple registered homes, aplurality of registered programmable intelligent thermostats and thelocation of each of the plurality of registered programmable intelligentthermostats within the multiple registered homes.

At step 510, the user performs a selection to upload electronic media toat least one programmable intelligent thermostat. In a typicalembodiment, the user selection is performed via a GUI 400 that isdisplayed on a display of at least one of the plurality of communicationdevices 108, 110, 112. The GUI 400 displays previously registered homeenvironments and the plurality of programmable intelligent thermostatswithin the previously registered home environments. For example, aplurality of programmable intelligent thermostats 406, 408 arepositioned within a first home environment 402 and a plurality ofprogrammable intelligent thermostats 410 and 412 are positioned within asecond home environment 404. When a user swipes or taps on an region 414outside of the first and second home environments 402, 404, the entireregion 414 is highlighted to indicate that the electronic images will besimultaneously transmitted to all of the plurality of programmableintelligent thermostats 406, 408, 410, 412 simultaneously using a singleswipe or tap. When a user swipes or taps on a region 415 inside of thefirst home environment 402 and outside of the plurality of programmableintelligent thermostats 406, 408, the entire first home environment 402is highlighted to indicate that the electronic images will betransmitted simultaneously to all of the plurality of programmableintelligent thermostats 406, 408 within the first home environment 402using a single swipe or tap. When a user swipes or taps on aprogrammable intelligent thermostats, only the selected programmableintelligent thermostat 412 is highlighted to indicate that theelectronic images will only be transmitted to the selected programmableintelligent thermostat 412 using a single swipe or tap. At step 512, theelectronic media is uploaded based upon the user selection. At step 514,the process 500 ends.

For purposes of this patent application, the term computer-readablestorage medium encompasses one or more tangible computer-readablestorage media possessing structures. As an example and not by way oflimitation, a computer-readable storage medium may include asemiconductor-based or other integrated circuit (IC) (such as, forexample, a field-programmable gate array (FPGA) or anapplication-specific IC (ASIC)), a hard disk, an HDD, a hybrid harddrive (HHD), an optical disc, an optical disc drive (ODD), amagneto-optical disc, a magneto-optical drive, a floppy disk, a floppydisk drive (FDD), magnetic tape, a holographic storage medium, asolid-state drive (SSD), a RAM-drive, a SECURE DIGITAL card, a SECUREDIGITAL drive, a flash memory card, a flash memory drive, or any othersuitable tangible computer-readable storage medium or a combination oftwo or more of these, where appropriate.

Particular embodiments may include one or more computer-readable storagemedia implementing any suitable storage. In particular embodiments, acomputer-readable storage medium implements one or more portions of theprocessor 240, one or more portions of the system memory 250, one ormore portions of the mass storage device 246, or a combination of these,where appropriate. In particular embodiments, a computer-readablestorage medium implements RAM or ROM. In particular embodiments, acomputer-readable storage medium implements volatile or persistentmemory. In particular embodiments, one or more computer-readable storagemedia embody encoded software.

In this patent application, reference to encoded software may encompassone or more applications, bytecode, one or more computer programs, oneor more executables, one or more instructions, logic, machine code, oneor more scripts, or source code, and vice versa, where appropriate, thathave been stored or encoded in a computer-readable storage medium. Inparticular embodiments, encoded software includes one or moreapplication programming interfaces (APIs) stored or encoded in acomputer-readable storage medium. Particular embodiments may use anysuitable encoded software written or otherwise expressed in any suitableprogramming language or combination of programming languages stored orencoded in any suitable type or number of computer-readable storagemedia. In particular embodiments, encoded software may be expressed assource code or object code. In particular embodiments, encoded softwareis expressed in a higher-level programming language, such as, forexample, C, Python, Java, or a suitable extension thereof. In particularembodiments, encoded software is expressed in a lower-level programminglanguage, such as assembly language (or machine code). In particularembodiments, encoded software is expressed in JAVA. In particularembodiments, encoded software is expressed in Hyper Text Markup Language(HTML), Extensible Markup Language (XML). JavaScript Object Notation(JSON), or other suitable markup language.

Depending on the embodiment, certain acts, events, or functions of anyof the algorithms described herein can be performed in a differentsequence, can be added, merged, or left out altogether (e.g., not alldescribed acts or events are necessary for the practice of thealgorithms). Moreover, in certain embodiments, acts or events can beperformed concurrently, e.g., through multi-threaded processing,interrupt processing, or multiple processors or processor cores or onother parallel architectures, rather than sequentially. Although certaincomputer-implemented tasks are described as being performed by aparticular entity, other embodiments are possible in which these tasksare performed by a different entity.

Conditional language used herein, such as, among others, “can,” “might,”“may,” “e.g.,” and the like, unless specifically stated otherwise, orotherwise understood within the context as used, is generally intendedto convey that certain embodiments include, while other embodiments donot include, certain features, elements and/or states. Thus, suchconditional language is not generally intended to imply that features,elements and/or states are in any way required for one or moreembodiments or that one or more embodiments necessarily include logicfor deciding, with or without author input or prompting, whether thesefeatures, elements and/or states are included or are to be performed inany particular embodiment.

While the above detailed description has shown, described, and pointedout novel features as applied to various embodiments, it will beunderstood that various omissions, substitutions, and changes in theform and details of the devices or algorithms illustrated can be madewithout departing from the spirit of the disclosure. As will berecognized, the processes described herein can be embodied within a formthat does not provide all of the features and benefits set forth herein,as some features can be used or practiced separately from others. Thescope of protection is defined by the appended claims rather than by theforegoing description. All changes which come within the meaning andrange of equivalency of the claims are to be embraced within theirscope.

1. A system comprising: a plurality of programmable intelligentthermostats positioned within at least one of a first home environmentand a second home environment; a plurality of communication devicesconfigured to operate an electronic media sharing application; at leastone server configured to communicate with the plurality of programmableintelligent thermostats and the plurality of communication devices via awireless network; wherein a user initiates the electronic media sharingapplication on at least one of the plurality of communication devices;wherein a touch-screen display of the at least one communication devicedemonstrates the plurality of programmable intelligent thermostatspositioned within the first and second home environments; and wherein atleast one user-selected electronic media is simultaneously uploaded toat least one of the plurality of programmable intelligent thermostatsresponsive to a user selection of a region on the touch-screen display.2. The system of claim 1 wherein: the first home environment comprisestwo programmable intelligent thermostats; and the second homeenvironment comprises two programmable intelligent thermostats.
 3. Thesystem of claim 2 wherein: responsive to the user selection of theregion that is outside of the first and second home environments, the atleast one user-selected electronic media is simultaneously uploaded toall the plurality of programmable intelligent thermostats registeredwith a user account.
 4. The system of claim 2 wherein: responsive to theuser selection of the region that is inside the first home environmentand outside the two programmable intelligent thermostats, the at leastone user-selected electronic media is simultaneously uploaded to the twoprogrammable intelligent thermostats within the first home environment.5. The system of claim 2 wherein: responsive to the user selection ofthe region that corresponds to at least one of the plurality ofprogrammable intelligent thermostats, the at least one user-selectedelectronic media is uploaded to the at least one of the plurality ofprogrammable intelligent thermostats.
 6. The system of claim 1, whereinthe at least one user-selected electronic media comprises at least oneof a textual file, a graphical file, an audio file, and a video file. 7.The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one user-selected electronicmedia comprises an electronic image.
 8. The system of claim 1, whereinthe at least one user-selected electronic media is displayed on adisplay of at least one of the plurality of programmable intelligentthermostats as a background image.
 9. The system of claim 1, wherein theat least one user-selected electronic media is stored in an imagerepository.
 10. The system of claim 9, wherein the image repository isnetwork accessible.
 11. The system of claim 10, wherein the networkaccessible image repository comprises social media websites.
 12. Thesystem of claim 11, wherein the at least one user-selected electronicmedia comprises electronic images tagged by the user on the social mediawebsites.
 13. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one server isconfigured to transmit information received from a contractor to atleast one of the plurality of programmable intelligent thermostats. 14.A method for comprising: positioning a plurality of programmableintelligent thermostats within a first home environment and a secondhome environment: operating an electronic media sharing application onat least one of a plurality of communication devices; initiating by auser, the electronic media sharing application on at least one of theplurality of communication devices; demonstrating, on a touch-screendisplay of the at least one of the plurality of communication devices,the plurality of programmable intelligent thermostats positioned withinthe first and second home environments; and simultaneously uploading atleast one user-selected electronic media to at least one of theplurality of programmable intelligent thermostats responsive to a userselection of a region on the touch-screen display.
 15. The method ofclaim 14 wherein: responsive to the user selection of the region that isoutside of the first and second home environments, the at least oneuser-selected electronic media is simultaneously uploaded to all theplurality of programmable intelligent thermostats registered with a useraccount.
 16. The method of claim 14 wherein: responsive to the userselection of the region that is inside the first home environment andoutside the two programmable intelligent thermostats, the at least oneuser-selected electronic media is simultaneously uploaded to the twoprogrammable intelligent thermostats within the first home environment.17. The method of claim 14 wherein: responsive to the user selection ofthe region that corresponds to at least one of the plurality ofprogrammable intelligent thermostats, the at least one user-selectedelectronic media is uploaded to the at least one of the plurality ofprogrammable intelligent thermostats.
 18. The method of claim 14,wherein the at least one user-selected electronic media comprises atleast one of a textual file, a graphical file, an audio file, and avideo file.
 19. The method of claim 14, wherein the at least oneuser-selected electronic media comprises an electronic image.
 20. Themethod of claim 14, wherein the at least one user-selected electronicmedia is displayed on a display of at least one of the plurality ofprogrammable intelligent thermostats as a background image.
 21. A systemcomprising: a plurality of programmable intelligent thermostatspositioned within at least one of a first home environment and a secondhome environment; a plurality of communication devices configured tooperate an electronic media sharing application; at least one serverconfigured to communicate with the plurality of programmable intelligentthermostats and the plurality of communication devices via a wirelessnetwork; wherein a user initiates the electronic media sharingapplication on at least one of the plurality of communication devices;wherein a touch-screen display of the at least one communication devicedemonstrates the plurality of programmable intelligent thermostatspositioned within the first and second home environments; and wherein atleast one electronic image tagged by the user on social media websitesis simultaneously uploaded to at least one of the plurality ofprogrammable intelligent thermostats responsive to a user selection of aregion on the touch-screen display.